Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidou Retsuden, better known to many fans as Samurai Spirits RPG, arrived in 1997 for Neo Geo CD, Sega Saturn, and Sony PlayStation. It still stands out because it took a series famous for one-on-one sword fighting and moved it into role-playing territory.
The game was also unusual because the three versions were not identical. Each release carried its own extra material, which gave collectors and curious players a reason to look beyond one platform. The Neo Geo CD edition included a third chapter centered on Hisame Shizumaru, while the PlayStation version offered a mode for viewing non-interactive story scenes.
The Saturn release had its own bonus too: an interview mode. Until now, the known workaround mainly went one way, with Saturn's bonus material accessible in the PlayStation version through a hacked save file. Bo Bayles has now found, with help from The Price of Reason, who translated the game into English, that the reverse also appears to be possible.
Bayles has made a patch that enables the PlayStation bonus content on Sega Saturn. Once applied, players can open that material by choosing Omake from the main menu and pressing the A button. The Saturn bonus content is still available as well, but it is reached by selecting Omake while holding L+Start and pressing A.
For Z-retro, this is a neat reminder that old console releases can still have secrets tucked into their differences. The patch does not change what Samurai Spirits RPG was, but it makes its version history easier to explore and compare.
